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Was Paul a Trinitarian? a Look at Romans 8

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Was Paul a Trinitarian? a Look at Romans 8 Scholars Crossing LBTS Faculty Publications and Presentations 2006 Was Paul a Trinitarian? A Look at Romans 8 Ronald C. Fay Liberty University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lts_fac_pubs Part of the Biblical Studies Commons, Comparative Methodologies and Theories Commons, Ethics in Religion Commons, History of Religions of Eastern Origins Commons, History of Religions of Western Origin Commons, Other Religion Commons, and the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Fay, Ronald C., "Was Paul a Trinitarian? A Look at Romans 8" (2006). LBTS Faculty Publications and Presentations. 368. https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/lts_fac_pubs/368 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Crossing. It has been accepted for inclusion in LBTS Faculty Publications and Presentations by an authorized administrator of Scholars Crossing. For more information, please contact [email protected]. WAS PAUL A TRINITARIAN? A LOOK AT ROMANS 8 RON C. FAY 1. INTRODUCTION Scholars who ask about God in the New Testament tend to assume the Trinity is either implicit in the text or else a later ecclesial construct. Typically the debate centers on the role and person of Jesus. 1 New Testament scholars themselves operate with a New Testament Theology approach to understanding or finding the Trinity, yet rarely do they ask whether certain authors actually held to some sort of Trinitarian thought in their writings, let alone in their theology. As a result, Francis Watson accuses James Dunn of being an Arian based upon Dunn’s reading of Paul.2 Watson critiques Dunn’s organization 3 of Paul’s theology and the relationship he posits between Christology and Theology Proper. In order to support a Trinitarian position for Paul, Watson refers to Romans 8, using it as a locus classicus . He notes the function and work of the Spirit and Son, asserting that this is enough to show that Paul was a Trinitarian. However, does appealing to Paul’s distinctions between Father, Son, and Spirit warrant sufficient support for the conclusion that he would adhere to an approximation of the conciliar decision of Nicea? This study will examine Romans 8, looking specifically at the Father, Son, and Spirit while assuming Paul to be a monotheist in order to test Watson’s assertion by examining if he has an exegetical basis for stating that Paul was a Trinitarian. At first glance, this seems an absurd issue, as many scholars quickly point to passages like I Corinthians 8:6 that demonstrate the divinity of Christ in the Pauline writings.4 However, two problems arise with such a solution. First, this gives evidence only for a “binity,” 1 One need only look at the debate over the type or types of Christology seen in the New Testament. For a comprehensive summary of various positions, see Larry Hurtado, Lord Jesus Christ: Devotion to Jesus in Earliest Christianity (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2003), 11-18. 2 Francis Watson, “The Triune Divine Identity: Reflections on Pauline God Language, in Disagreement with J. D. G. Dunn” JSNT 80 (2000): 99-124. See 117 where Watson declaims Dunn’s exegetical decision as a “characteristic Arian move” (emphasis original). Watson would have been better served, however, to state that Dunn understands Paul as an Arian, since Dunn attempts to describe Paul’s theology and not necessarily his own. 3 Watson is replying directly to James D. G. Dunn, The Theology of Paul the Apostle (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998). 4 In addition to the typical commentaries, see also the comments in Richard Bauckham, God Crucified: Monotheism & Christology in the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1998), 37-40. 1 not a Trinity, as this passage excludes Holy Spirit from consideration. 5 Second, it does not answer the more nuanced question of how developed Paul’s thought was on this matter. Clearly Paul had an open form of monotheism, yet one must consider to what extent he had developed his thought. 6 He does not fully flesh out the implications of Jesus as Lord and as the one who saves with respect to the saving nature of the Father. Does Jesus fit into some sort of subset for Paul’s Theology Proper, with Christology being inherently subordinate to it?7 Or is Jesus truly God, no matter the formulation of such an idea?8 How does the Holy Spirit fit into this picture?9 In the end, only careful exegetical work can point toward any conclusion. Why does Watson refer to Romans 8 so often? The reason, as far as one can glean from his writing, lies in the confluence of the Father, Son, and Spirit. If one intends to offer a Biblical or exegetical critique of another’s non-Trinitarian leanings, Romans 8 provides an ideal foundation for at least four reasons. First, it includes questions of salvation (8:1-4). Second, it speaks about the new life to be had in a believer via the Holy Spirit (8:5-6, 9). Third, it lays out some (though by no means all) of the roles of the Father, Son, and Spirit. Fourth, it includes a strong eschatological dimension that shines a spotlight on those roles. Romans 8 weaves together the various threads of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit into a tapestry of the godhead. Clearly, this is why Watson leaned so heavily upon it. 2. FATHER Typically when Paul uses the designation of qeo,j, he is referring to the Father, and so the investigation begins with Him due to His unambiguous designation as God. Who is God in Romans 8? God is the Father of all who believe, in that those who believe are adopted into His family and called His children and heirs (14-17). This adoption, whether understood in the Jewish context or, more likely, within the Greco-Roman context, 10 is a legally binding 5 Dunn says it “redefines Jewish monotheism in…a ‘binitarian’ direction.” James D. G. Dunn, “Was Christianity a Monotheistic Faith from the Beginning?” SJT 35 (1982): 303-35. 6 Care must be taken as well not to project later formulations or controversies back onto Paul. 7 James D. G. Dunn, “In Quest of Paul’s Theology: Retrospect and Prospect” in Pauline Theology, Volume IV: Looking Back, Pressing On (E. Elizabeth Johnson and David M. Hay eds.; Atlanta: Scholars, 1997), 95-115. Note what he says on 108, that “the context of Paul’s christology was Paul’s continuing monotheism which narrows the possible avenues of interpreting Paul’s christology.” To be fair, Dunn points to another article on the subject that he wrote, “Christology as an Aspect of Theology,” in The Future of Christology: Essays in Honor of Leander E. Keck (Abraham J. Malherbe and Wayne A. Meeks eds.; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993), 202-12. This article aims at an intentionally Trinitarian understanding of Paul, though such a short article can only give a trajectory. 8 Thus beginning to answer the concern of Nils Alstrup Dahl, “The Neglected Factor in New Testament Theology,” Reflection 73 (1975): 5-8. 9 A major source of interaction on this question will be Gordon Fee, God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul (Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1994). Although delving into the OT background of such an issue would be interesting, it lies beyond the bounds of this work. 2 relationship. The function of the Father, in this instance, is truly to be Father to all His children by adoption through salvation. The Father has mercy on those He calls to be His children, those He calls to love Him (27-28). 11 The “Golden Chain” in 29-30 stresses the primary role the Father plays in the movement towards glorification through election, as God accomplishes it according to how His will.12 At the same time, it is God who in fact subjects all of creation to decay, on account of Adam’s sin. 13 Through the glory of His children, God will renew creation and set it free (20-23). The major focus on the Father in this chapter, however, comes in the last pericope (though foreshadowed in 8:3, 11; this link will be developed later). Admittedly the adoption language and the renewal of creation point toward the Father as both an active and passive agent. At the least, He seems to work through others, as He renews creation through His children and He raises Christ from the dead. He also brings about new life through His Spirit, which will be touched on later. Romans 8:31-39 stresses the acts of the Father through the Son, such that the Son is the agent by which God accomplishes His will. The opening question of this section, ti, ou=n evrou/men , repeated throughout the book of Romans, 14 often functions as an introduction to Paul’s own thoughts on the matter. 15 This means the question heading 8:31 is not isolated, but instead proceeds from what comes before. 16 The previous section of 8:18-30 shifts focus from the Holy 10 See C. S. Wansink, “Roman Law and Legal System,” in DNTB (Craig A. Evans and Stanley E. Porter eds.; Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2000), 984-91. The portion of highest relevance is found in the discussion on inheritance and adoption within the Roman system (990-1). 11 This language is taken from Richard B. Hays, “The God of Mercy Who Rescues Us from the Present Evil Age,” in The Forgotten God: Perspectives in Biblical Theology (A. Andrew Das and Frank J. Matera eds.; Philadelphia: Westminster John Knox, 2002), 123-43. 12 For the implicit monotheistic tendencies of this passage, see Ulrich Wilckens, Der Brief an die Römer (3 vols.; EKKNT 6.1-6.3; Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag, 1978-1982), 2:166-7.
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